First Inauguration; precedents
set include the phrase, "So help me God," and kissing the Bible after
taking the oath.

March 4, 1793

George Washington

First Inauguration in
Philadelphia; delivered shortest Inaugural address at just 135 words.

March 4, 1797

John Adams

First to receive the oath of
office from the Chief Justice of the United States.

March 4, 1801

Thomas Jefferson

First Inauguration in
Washington, D.C.

March 4, 1809

James Madison

Inauguration held in the House
chamber of the Capitol; first Inaugural Ball held that evening.

March 4, 1817

James Monroe

First President to take the oath
of office and deliver the Inaugural
address outdoors; ceremony took place on platform in front of the
temporary Brick Capitol (where Supreme Court now stands).

March 5, 1821

James Monroe

March 4, 1821 fell on a Sunday,
so Monroe's Inauguration occurred the next day.

March 4, 1829

Andrew Jackson

First President to take the oath
of office on the east front portico of the U.S. Capitol.

March 4, 1833

Andrew Jackson

Last time Chief Justice John
Marshall administered the oath office; he presided over nine
Inaugurations, from Adams to Jackson.

March 4, 1837

Martin Van buren

First President who was not born
a British subject; first time the President-elect and President rode to
the Capitol for the Inauguration together.

March 4, 1841

William H. Harrison

First President to arrive in
Washington by railroad; delivered the longest Inaugural address (8,445
words).

April 6, 1841

John Tyler

First Vice President to assume
Presidency upon the death of the President.

March 4, 1845

James K. Polk

First Inauguration covered by
telegraph; first known Inauguration featured in a newspaper
illustration (Illustrated London News).

March 4, 1853

Franklin Pierce

Affirmed the oath of office
rather than swear it; cancelled the Inaugural ball.

March 4, 1857

James Buchanan

First Inauguration known to have
been photographed.

March 4, 1861

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's cavalry escort to the
Capitol was heavily armed, providing unprecedented protection for the
President-elect.

March 4, 1865

Abraham Lincoln

African Americans participated
in the Inaugural parade for the first time.

March 4, 1873

Ulysses S. Grant

Coldest March 4 Inauguration
Day; the noon temperature was 16°F, with wind gusts up to 40 mph.

March 3, 1877

Rutherford B. Hayes

March 4, 1877 fell on Sunday, so
Hayes took oath of office on Saturday,
March 3 to ensure peaceful transition of power; public Inauguration on
March 5.

March 4, 1881

James Garfield

First President to review the
Inaugural parade from a stand built in front of the White House.

March 4, 1897

William McKinley

First Inaugural ceremony
recorded by a motion picture camera; first
President to have a glass-enclosed reviewing stand; first Inauguration
at which Congress hosted a luncheon for the President and Vice
President

March 4, 1901

William McKinley

First time the U.S. House joined
with the U.S. Senate, creating the JCCIC, to make Inaugural arrangements

March 4, 1909

William H. Taft

Inauguration took place in the
Senate chamber because of blizzard;
first time President's wife rode with President in the procession from
the Capitol to the White House after Inauguration.

March 4, 1913

Woodrow Wilson

Inaugural ball was suspended for
the first time since 1853.

March 4, 1917

Woodrow Wilson

First President to take the oath
of office on Sunday; public
Inauguration held on Monday, March 5, 1917; first time First Lady
accompanied President both to and from the Capitol; first time women
participated in the Inaugural parade.

March 4, 1921

Warren G. Harding

First President to ride to and
from his Inauguration in an automobile.

March 4, 1925

Calvin Coolidge

First Inaugural ceremony
broadcast nationally by radio; first time a
former President (William Taft) administered the oath of office as
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

March 4, 1929

Herbert Hoover

First Inaugural ceremony
recorded by talking newsreel.

March 4, 1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt

FDR and Eleanor begin tradition
of morning worship service by attending St. John's Church.

January 20, 1937

Franklin D. Roosevelt

First President Inaugurated on
January 20th, a change made by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution;
first time the Vice President was Inaugurated outdoors on the same
platform with the President.

January 20, 1945

Franklin D. Roosevelt

First and only President sworn
in for a fourth term; had simple Inaugural ceremony at the White House.

January 20, 1949

Harry S. Truman

First televised Inaugural
ceremony; Truman reinstated the official Inaugural ball.

January 20, 1953

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Broke precedent by reciting his
own prayer after taking the oath, rather than kissing the Bible; first
time the JCCIC hosted the Inaugural luncheon at the Capitol.

January 20, 1961

John F. Kennedy

First time a poet participated
in the Inaugural program; first Catholic to become President of the
United States.

November 22, 1963

Lyndon B. Johnson

First time a woman administered
the oath of office (U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes swore in
Johnson on Air Force One).

January 20, 1969

Richard M. Nixon

Took the oath of office on two
Bibles; both family heirlooms.

August 9, 1974

Gerald R. Ford

First unelected Vice President
to become President.

January 20, 1981

Ronald Reagan

First Inauguration held on the
west front of the U.S. Capitol.

January 21, 1985

Ronald Reagan

January 20th fell on Sunday, so
Reagan was privately sworn in that day
at the White House; public Inauguration on January 21st took place in
the Capitol Rotunda, due to freezing weather; coldest Inauguration day
on record, with a noon temperature of 7°F

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